YOUTH CULTURE IN COMICS 723
sexuality, identity and maturing, but the peculiarities of most protagonists and the
setting make these works a stimulating and diff erent view of adolescent culture.
Another relevant characteristic of Campbell’s work is the infl uence of manga.
Th e popularity of manga with contemporary youth audience has not only increased
exponentially the number of translations from original titles and series but has also
infl uenced enormously the drawing and narrative style of new authors. A perfect
example of this phenomenon is the work of Bryan Lee O’Malley in Scott Pilgrim ,
beginning in 2004. Th e story follows the adventures of the title character, a 23-year-
old Canadian slacker who does not have a job, shares an apartment with a gay
friend, and plays in a rock band. Th e main plot focuses on the love story between
Scott and Ramona, and her seven evil ex-boyfriends whom Scott must defeat to be
able to date Ramona. Th is comic book combines humor, some fantasy , and many
manga-infl uenced fi ghts to explore the diffi culties one confronts when is in love.
Beyond some of the fantastic elements of the story, Scott Pilgrim portrays youth cul-
ture in a realistic manner, seamlessly including the use of cell phones, video games,
as well as references to skateboarding culture, and other trivial elements like eating
and dressing habits that are relevant in contemporary youth.
Th e other major change that manga has brought to North American comics is the
acknowledgment of the female audience in the comics world. A predominantly male
industry, both on the creative and reading ends, the explosion of manga titles has helped
to make more visible and strengthen an already existing female audience. A conse-
quence of this has been the attempt of one of the major publishers, DC , to capitalize
on the teen female market with the development of the imprint Minx. Th is imprint was
created to develop stories that spoke directly to a teen female audience. Although of
short duration, from 2007 to 2008, Minx published 12 titles that had in common their
teen and young adult female protagonists, an everyday life focus and a positive critic
reception. Th e reasons for the imprint’s cancellation are still unclear and it has received
a rather unusual attention from the mainstream press, refl ecting the opinions of read-
ers, creators, and critics. Some consider that the female audience in comic books is not
as large and strong as expected; others criticized the lack of time given to the project in
order to establish a name and audience.
In the world of superheroes, the need to connect with a new generation of teen
readers has also forced some changes. After years of their respective superhero uni-
verses, the two main comic book publishers realized that most of their titles had
become almost unmanageable to follow for non-expert readers. Marvel, for instance,
decided to revisit the birth and fi rst steps of some of their best-known superheroes.
Th e Ultimate Marvel series focuses on updating the style and narrative of these sto-
ries, especially for a younger audience, eliminating some of the many intricacies that
make the storylines too obscure for new readers. One of the most successful works
is Ultimate Spider-Man , from the hands of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagle.
Runaways is another title that has clearly attracted the attention of preteen and
teenagers. Created by Brian K. Vaughan and published in two imprints targeting
